Freedom of Carnage Act

Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Psalms 100:3 (NASB)

Every life is a precious creation of God.

For many years, I had taken the stance that abortion rights, pro-choice and pro-life were none of my business, because I am male. Since I could not have a baby, it was not my business to say anything about the issue. During my first years as a Youth Pastor three events changed my mind, indeed my heart, concerning this issue.

1. I read a book by John Ankerberg called “Facts on Abortion”, simple straightforwardly titled. In this book was testimony from a woman who had undergone a “saline” abortion (a procedure developed by the Nazis for population control in concentration camps). She described how she was told that there was nothing to worry about, nothing to be ashamed of, that the procedure would be little more than a regular “lady appointment” and that she would be able to return to life as normal very soon.

What she tells is a different story. She said: The moment that the doctor injected the saline into her womb, she knew she had made a terrible mistake, and there was no turning back. Her child kicked violently, churning in her womb as she tried to comfort her until kicks gave way to flutters and gradually faded. Twelve hours later she delivered dead child, in earshot of a woman nearby who was giving birth to a healthy baby boy. She was then led to a small room with a couch where she was left to recover from the procedure, but says she has never fully recovered.

2. My pastor loaned me a video called, “The Hard Truth About Abortion”. You may have heard of it. It is exceptionally graphic, and truth be told, although it had a good effect on me, I’m not sure I would ever recommend anyone else watching it. The film shows in graphic detail the effects of abortion on the child, a side too often ignored in the Pro-Abortion or “Pro-Choice” camp. I can still see the images, pieces of tiny human beings tossed into 5 gallon buckets, freezers, and dumpsters.


3. The moment of solidification came when a young girl from our youth group came to talk to me one Sunday. She had been saved that summer at youth camp and she had moved away for a time. While she was gone she had met a boy, an older boy with a job and a car, and his own place. She had found out after she got back from visiting him that she was pregnant. Her grandmother, who was her legal guardian, said she would “help” her. She had the money, and she knew where she could do and this girl had two choices. Have an abortion, or find somewhere else to live. In a panic the girl did what her grandmother wanted. She has never had life in her eyes since that day.

They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood.
Psalms 106:38 (NIV)

Since Jane Roe (Norma McCorvey) was manipulated into being used as a test case thirty-five years ago, more than 40,000,000 abortions have taken place in the US. About 1.25-1.6 million each year, or one every 22 seconds.

It is illegal to step on the egg of a sea turtle in FL, it is illegal to kill an American Eagle, but it is perfectly legal to snuff out the flame of the life of an unborn child.

Even more appalling is the reality that in almost any case where a pregnant woman is murdered, the case is considered a double homicide. Why? Because the life inside that woman is considered to be sentient, viable, and protected under the law, unless you are inside a Planned Parenthood office. “There is a difference”, the abortion lobby says, “the woman in the clinic has chosen to have a procedure…” And there is the rub: it is a choice, it is a procedure. There is painful little consistency here.

I contend that it is not a choice, and it is not a procedure. It is a child, and it is murder… premeditated murder.

The case of the girl I mentioned above is unfortunately less than unique. Many girls, and women, have had the same fate. Often scared, confused they are lured, or even pushed, into making decisions that cannot be reversed. In such cases abortion serves as a form of emergency contraception. Providers say they are helping the girl out, saving her future, giving her a new lease on life… but is this so?

I recently watched a documentary film called Lake of Fire. At two and a half hours it leaves few stones unturned. One interview that will last forever is one of an abortion provider. Standing over a sink, sifting a pan of tissue that moments before had been a child. Casually, while he pulls a leg out of the pan, measuring the foot of the baby to approximate its age as he remarks:.

“Its just a matter of us basically piecing the fetal tissue back together to make sure that we have all of the fragments. [and as he pans for body parts]. All the media attention is always directed for the fetus and the gory parts if you will of providing the, the procedure, when the really important thing is that we’ve been able to help this young lady get on with her life. She‘s planning to go on to school and she doesn’t have to take over the responsibilities of parenting and here in just a very few minutes we’re able to facilitate her decision to not be a parent at this time.”

Are these girls being helped? Are they receiving proper, legal help? A current article in World Magazine says “no”. Recently an undercover journalist posed as a minor and visited “many” Planned Parenthood clinics across the country. At two stops in Indiana the woman claimed to be 14 and that she had been with a man more than twenty years her age, a felony in Indiana. Employees “brushed off” the girl’s statements and instead was counseled her on how to keep the situation quiet, how to avoid the entanglements of parental notification, even how to get an out of state abortion if she were to encounter obstacles in state. Even after repeatedly bringing up the fact that something illegal had happened, the girl was coached to lie saying the father was a kid from school. One employee stated, “I don’t care how old he is.”

It appears that far from helping young women “plan” their parenthood, some clinicians feel obliged to make the plan for these girls.

Christians, this is not a political issue, or a bioethical issue, or a question of medicine. This is a moral and spiritual issue. We have to do something.

Admittedly, my message today relates primarily to young ladies who are considering abortion because they feel their back is against the wall and they see abortion as the way out. I realize the issue is more complex for many women. I realize that this issue cannot be condensed to a bumper sticker or slogan, as we so often want to. Yet, many abortions are simply the product of fear. You must fight it with love. I am convinced that if we can help girls know that they are not alone, that we can reduce abortion across the board. I know this because I have seen it with my own eyes. There are ways we can effect positive change for both mother and child.

Vindicate the weak and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and needy; Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.
Psalms 82:3-4 (NASB)

Teach: a consistent ethic of the value of human life. Being pro-life is more than being anti-abortion. Life at all stages matters to God. We have to be consistent.

Vote: your conscience. With Roe v. Wade, an abortion free-for-all ensued. There were little if any restrictions on abortion. In any state, a woman could have an abortion at any point of pregnancy, even without the knowledge of the father. Since then, many laws have been passed to restrict abortion. Several states require one or both parents to be made aware of their daughter’s desire to have an abortion. Mandatory counseling and ultrasounds as well as 24 hour waiting periods have been established. All of these steps have produced marked reductions in the abortion rate. A prime example is Mississippi where currently only one abortion clinic is in operation. However, all that could change as early as next week.

President elect Barack Obama said in a 2007 fundraising speech for the Planned Parenthood Action Fund (the organization’s lobbying and political action wing) that the first thing he would do as president is sign into law the Freedom of Choice Act. The FOCA would effectively overturn any progress made to reduce abortions in America. If he keeps his word to Planned Parenthood (who gave him piles of money during his campaign) the ink will be dried on that Act before we have yet finished sweeping up the ticker tape. All the while abortion providers will set up shop all over the country. Years of Pro-Life efforts will be undone.

Pray: Last year I appealed to you to prayerfully select leaders that exemplify the ethics and character of the Bible. Today, I ask you to recall that:

The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever, He wishes.
Prov 21:1 (NASB)

Please pray for our President. Pray that God will change his heart on this crucial issue. Pray also for others in leadership that they will have the courage to defend the rights of those who cannot speak for themselves.

Pray for women and girls in trouble, for their families. Pray that you will know how you can be not just a voice, but also a support in a time of need.

Act: There are two facets to this: First, you live in a country where you can speak your mind. So do it! www.congress.org.

Second, the Pro-Life movement has learned many lessons in the last thirty-five years. One of them is that you catch a lot more flies with sugar than you do with vinegar. Believe it or not there was a time when the abortion rate was even worse than in the 70s, 80s, or 90s… the 1860s. In that period the abortion rate was actually higher per capita than it is today. This was due mostly to the growing pains of urbanization: namely, poverty and high rates of prostitution.

Today, we should thank God for groups like Care Net, which has over 1100 resource centers nationwide, and the hundreds of independent assistance centers across America. These facilities are often staffed by women who have been hurt by abortion and hope to help others avoid their fate. They offer education, adoption referrals, and other services to women and girls in crisis. The church must complete its movement from condemnation to provision. We may not be able to stop abortion through legislation, but through honoring the Great Commandment we can give options to girls who feel they have no where to go and in so doing, if history will repeat itself, we will again see a precipitous drop in the number of abortions in America.

Finally, we must resist the temptation to demonize the women exploited by abortion. It was, and remains, Christ’s mission to redeem. So to the woman who has had an abortion, to the man who has been a party to one, to the young couple who was scared and didn’t know what else to do… Please hear this, there is light in the darkness. There is forgiveness and freedom to be found in Jesus Christ. There is hope for the future; there is grace for you.

All you have to do is ask. If you are out there, or know someone who is, consider this a helping hand stretched out to you.

Why Don't People Go to Church?

Tomorrow I am preaching from the latter half of Acts 2; "The Ingathering" after Pentecost, and I was thinking: "What reasons do people have for not going to (or being part of a) church?"

So, what do you think?

Rev.